The first book I wrote is entitled “Seventy Times Seven”. The title comes from Matthew 18: 21-22 NIV: “Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

            Peter wanted a mathematical equation on how many times he should forgive someone who sinned against him. So, in essence Jesus says, “You want a mathematical equation, Peter, I’ll give you one – “Jesus replied, “Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:22 MSG). In other words, Jesus was saying forgiveness is not keeping count on how often we are wronged.

          Today, I would like to look at a parable Jesus told about forgiveness. It’s found in Matthew 18:23-35. Jesus said the kingdom of Heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. A man who owed him 10,000 bags of gold was brought to him. The man was not able to pay and the king ordered that he, his wife, and his children be sold to repay the debt.

          The servant begged the king to be patient with him and give him time to pay off the debt. The master took pity on the servant, canceled the debt, and let the man go.

      But the man went out and found a fellow servant who owed him 100 silver coins. He grabbed the man and demanded that he pay back what he owed. The debtor begged the servant to be patient with him and said in time, he would pay back the money.

        The servant who had been forgiven the huge debt refused and had the man thrown into prison. When the other servants saw what happened, they went and told the king. The king called in the servant who refused to forgive and said the following: “...’You wicked servant...‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to.  Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

          “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart” (Matthew 18:32-35 NIV).

            From this parable, we see forgiveness is very important to God. It is part of His heart. That is why He sent Jesus, so we can be forgiven from our sin and when we repent, adopted back into God’s family, a position we lost when Adam and Eve turned from God and invited Satan to be their lord.

            In Exodus 15:22-25 (TLB), we read the following: Then Moses led the people of Israel on from the Red Sea, and they moved out into the wilderness of Shur and were there three days without water. Arriving at Marah, they couldn’t drink the water because it was bitter (that is why the place was called Marah, meaning “bitter”).

             Then the people turned against Moses. “Must we die of thirst?” they demanded.
Moses pleaded with the Lord to help them, and the Lord showed him a tree to throw into the water, and the water became sweet.

           The tree made the bitter water sweet. Take your bitterness, hurt, anger, and the wounds of your soul to the foot of the cross. Apply the blood of Jesus to the sin and the dunamis power of the Holy Spirit to the wound in your soul made by the sin of offense. According to Thayer's Greek Lexicon, in addition to referring to strength, power, and ability, dunamis can also refer to “moral power and excellence of soul”. Allow Jesus to turn the bitter water inside you to sweet – to restore you to the place where your soul is not damaged and wounded, but is excellent.

         If we want to see the power of forgiveness, look at Jesus. We know that Satan is the prince of the power of the air. Ephesians 2:2 (TPT) says, “It wasn’t that long ago that you lived in the religion, customs, and values of this world, obeying the dark ruler of the earthly realm who fills the atmosphere with his authority, and works diligently in the hearts of those who are disobedient to the truth of God.”

         On the cross, Jesus cried out, “...Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they’re doing” (Luke 23:34 NOG). In John 19:30 (MSG), He said, “...“It’s done . . . complete.” Other translations say, “It is finished.”

         At the cross, Satan lost his position of control. The sun didn’t shine – Matthew 27:45 (TPT) says, “For three hours, beginning at noon, a sudden and unexpected darkness came over the earth.” At the cross, Satan lost control of the earth. After Jesus cried out, took his last breath, and gave up his spirit, the earth shook violently and the rocks were split apart.

       At the cross, Satan lost control of death. After Jesus cried out and took His last breath,  “...graves were opened. Then many of the holy ones who had died were brought back to life and came out of their graves...after Jesus’ resurrection, they were seen by many people walking in Jerusalem” (Matthew 27:52-53 TPT).

            Oh my friend, there is power in forgiveness. When you release forgiveness, it closes the door on Satan.

          Boiled down to its essence, whether we extend forgiveness or not, depends on how much we trust God. Will we allow Him to carry our sorrow, pain, and disappointment or insist on holding onto it ourselves? Will we continue to drink the poison of unforgiveness, hoping it will kill the person who wronged us? Do we have faith God will handle our case justly?

            The response of the disciples to the teaching of Jesus about forgiveness in Luke 17 was to ask Him to increase their faith. In order to live out His challenging call to forgive, they knew their faith needed to be strengthened. To forgive is a powerful act of faith.

            I would like to close this post with a prayer. It is a prayer of repentance and forgiveness. It is a prayer for healing. I encourage you to pray it out loud.

          Lord Jesus, today I purpose and I choose to forgive in my heart every single person who has ever been involved in my trauma, be it a loved one, a husband or wife, a family member, a friend, a boss, a person I work with, a pastor, a leader, someone at my church, a government official, no matter who it was, Lord, right now I forgive them in the specific memory of what they did and I repent for getting bitter. I release them and I cancel their debts to me.

           In the name of Jesus, I cancel all of satan’s authority over me in these memories, because they are forgiven and I command the anger, shame, and guilt in these memories to go.

          I want to be healed. I want to have breakthrough. So, I’m taking an intentional action, like Moses did when the bitter waters became sweet. He took that branch, the cross, and threw it into the water. I take the cross. I take the blood Jesus shed for me and I apply it to my bitter memories.

        I put it into my bitter soul to heal these waters, to make them clean, so rivers of living water can flow into my body, into my mind, into my emotions, into my business, into my marriage, into my family, into my ministry, into my finances, into my health, and I see LIFE, HEALING, and WHOLENESS, God’s Shalom peace, coming into every area I need it.

        I pray this prayer in the precious Name of Jesus, the Name that is above every hurt and trauma I have ever experienced. Amen”
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          Prayer adapted from Katie Souza, Katie Souza Ministries

            I don’t know about where you live, but here in eastern Ontario, we have lots of snow, more than I’ve seen in the over eight years I’ve lived in this small town one-hundred and fifty kilometres east of Toronto. We’ve also had our fair share of storms this winter.

            Recently I read about two people who ventured out on their snowmobiles in whiteout conditions. When their machines got stuck, they were stranded and unable to return home. Searchers found one – frightened but in good condition. He told his rescuers he thought he was going to die, alone and abandoned.

            The other person realized he couldn’t make it back, dug into a snowbank, and sheltered there overnight. He was also found – safe and healthy.

          At one time or another, we all find ourselves in the midst of storms. They can be physical, emotional, or spiritual. What do you do when you find yourself caught in one?

        Rule number one is don’t panic.  Panic drives out rational thought. A clear calm mind is essential for survival. Rule number two is to prepare for a storm before it hits. Whatever tempest we face, we need to have the Word of God stored up on the inside of us. Isaiah 26:3 (AMP) says, “You will keep in perfect and constant peace the one whose mind is steadfast [that is, committed and focused on You – in both inclination and character], Because he trusts and takes refuge in You [with hope and confident expectation].”
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        Our spiritual and emotional states are related to our thought life. In the midst of the storm, we have a choice as to what we dwell on in our thinking. The apostle Paul urges us to “use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5 MSG).

          I love how The Passion Translation expresses Hebrews 6:19-20 – “We have this certain hope like a strong, unbreakable anchor holding our souls to God himself. Our anchor of hope is fastened to the mercy seat in the heavenly realm beyond the sacred threshold, and where Jesus, our forerunner, has gone in before us. He is now and forever our royal Priest...”
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           In the midst of the storm, Jesus is interceding for us. “Who is the one who condemns us? Christ Jesus is the One who died [to pay our penalty], and more than that, who was raised [from the dead], and who is at the right hand of God interceding [with the Father] for us” (Romans 8:34 AMP).

         God is our shelter in the time of storm. “Then Yahweh will create over all of Mount Zion and over every gathering a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night. And all this manifestation of dazzling glory will spread over them like a wedding canopy. It will be a tabernacle as a shade from the scorching heat of the day and a safe shelter to protect them from the storm and rain” (Isaiah 4:5-7 TPT).

         When the storms of life come, may we not be afraid, but see God’s glory and protection spread over us like a Jewish wedding chuppah – a canopy or covering. Help us never to forget that God is "...such a safe and powerful place to find refuge!... a proven help in time of trouble – more than enough and always available whenever (we) need you” (Psalm 46:1 TPT).

 
            Growing up, our gang of neighbourhood kids often played “Hide and Seek”.  While one person closed their eyes and counted to a certain number, everyone else would scatter and hide. When the counting was over, the person who was “It” would yell out, “Ready or not, here I come!”

            A similar call is ringing out over the earth today. Jesus is coming back for His bride. “On that day, with a command that thunders into the world, with a voice of a chief heavenly messenger, and with a blast of God’s trumpet, the Lord Himself will descend from heaven; and all those who died in the Anointed One, our Liberating King, will rise from the dead first” (1 Thessalonians 4:16 VOICE). When that happens, time for preparation will be over.

            In Matthew 25 Jesus told the parable of the ten virgins who were given the task of being ready to meet the bridegroom. Five of them brought enough oil for their lamps and five did not. The virgins represent all those waiting for Christ’s return and the lamps, the outward profession of faith. Oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit and represents true faith and a living relationship with God through Jesus. The bridegroom is Jesus.

           This parable illustrates the contrast between those who develop an intimate relationship with the Saviour,  spending time daily with Him in His Word, praying, and soaking in the beauty of His Presence (the wise), and those who outwardly profess faith but lack true commitment (the foolish).

         When the bridegroom arrived, the prepared virgins went with him into the marriage feast, and the door was shut. The unprepared virgins were left outside, pleading, “’Lord! Lord! Open the door for us’” ( Matthew 25:11 NLT). “But he called back, ‘Believe me, I don’t know you!’” (Matthew 25:12 NLT).  

         Jesus concluded the parable with a sober warning. “Watch therefore [give strict attention and be cautious and active], for you know neither the day nor the hour when the Son of Man will come” (Matthew 25:13 AMPC).

         As the above verse states, we don’t know the exact timing of Christ’s return. Therefore, in order to be ready, we need to live ready – in a state of spiritual preparedness. “Let us rejoice and be glad! Let us give him the glory! For the time has come for the wedding of the Lamb, and his Bride has prepared herself” (Revelation 19:7 CJB).

         In closing, I ask myself these questions. Do I love Jesus more than anyone or anything else in this world? Do I spend time with Him daily, basking in His Presence, reading His Word, and communing with Him in prayer? Or do I leave Him on the sidelines, because I'm too busy with the things of this world?
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        Can we say with the apostle John, “Amen! Come, Lord Yeshua!” (Revelation 22:20 CJB). As I examine my heart before God, I ask myself, am I ready for His coming? Are you?

​Proverbs 12:2 (NOG): “A good person obtains favor from Yahweh...”
            We can’t do anything to earn God’s favour. It is His gift to us. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, the barrier between God and man was torn down, enabling us to receive the favour of our heavenly Father. Like everything else in the Christian life, favour is activated by faith. If we don’t activate it, we won’t reap its benefits.
            In the following Scripture verses, I want to look at five of the benefits of God’s favour.

1. Favour produces restoration of what the enemy has stolen. “And the Lord gave the Israelis favor with the Egyptians, so that they gave them whatever they wanted. And the Egyptians were practically stripped of everything they owned!” (Exodus 12:36 TLB).
2. Favour can bring about prominence and preferential treatment, even for an orphan girl. “The king fell in love with Esther far more than with any of his other women or any of the other virgins—he was totally smitten by her. He placed a royal crown on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti” (Esther 2:17 MSG).

     3.     The favour of God can cause petitions to be granted, even by ungodly civil                authorities.

2 “ When he saw Queen Esther standing in the court, he was pleased with her and held out to her the gold scepter that was in his hand. So Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter.
3 Then the king asked, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be given you.”
4 “If it pleases the king,” replied Esther, “let the king, together with Haman, come today to a banquet I have prepared for him.”
5 “Bring Haman at once,” the king said, “so that we may do what Esther asks” (Esther 5: 2-5 NIV).

4.   Battles are won which you don’t have to fight, because God will fight them for you.
“For our fathers did not possess the land [of Canaan] by their own sword, Nor did their own arm save them, But Your right hand and Your arm and the light of Your presence, Because You favored and delighted in them” (Psalm 44:3 AMP).

5.     Divine favour can produce supernatural increase and promotion, even in the midst of lack.
“Now there was famine in the land...Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the Lord blessed him. The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy.” (Genesis 26: 1, 12-13 NIV).

       God wants to give His children favour. Psalm 30:5 tells us His favour is for life. So let’s make 2025 the year we grab onto the Father’s promises and activate them by faith. Even when things don’t look like we want them to, we need to hang on. God's promises are ALL “Yes” and “Amen”.

            “The weapons of the war we’re fighting are not of this world but are powered by God and effective at tearing down the strongholds erected against His truth. We are demolishing arguments and ideas, every high-and-mighty philosophy that pits itself against the knowledge of the one true God. We are taking prisoners of every thought, every emotion, and subduing them into obedience to the Anointed One” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5 VOICE).

            According to the Apostle Paul, we are in a battle – not a physical battle with tanks and drones, but a spiritual one. It is a battle fought in the realm of thoughts and words. Jesus said, “Words are powerful; take them seriously. Words can be your salvation. Words can also be your damnation” (Matthew 12:27 MSG). “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life]” (Proverbs 18:21 AMPC).

            Where do words come from? They come from what is in our hearts – what we dwell on. “...A person full of goodness in his heart produces good things; a person with an evil reservoir in his heart pours out evil things. The heart overflows in the words a person speaks; your words reveal what’s within your heart” (Luke 6:45 VOICE).

            And when we face negative circumstances, what words come out of our mouths? Do we speak the problem or the promises of God? We always have a choice.

          For example, when we are condemned and falsely accused, do we rail against the accuser, or do we focus on God’s Word, which says, “...but no weapon that can hurt you has ever been forged. Any accuser who takes you to court will be dismissed as a liar. This is what God’s servants can expect. I’ll see to it that everything works out for the best. God’s Decree” (Isaiah 54:17 MSG).

         If financial challenges come our way, do we spend sleepless nights trying to balance our cheque book, or do we stand on the knowledge that Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the law, remembering that poverty and lack are part of the curse? “Do you remember the Scripture that says, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree?’ That is what happened when Jesus was nailed to the cross: He became a curse, and at the same time dissolved the curse” (Galatians 3:13 MSG).

         Often, sickness and disease rear their ugly heads when we least expect them. Again, we have a choice. We can focus our minds on the sickness, or on the Word of God. “...it was our pains he carried – our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us. We thought he brought it on himself, that God was punishing him for his own failures. But it was our sins that did that to him, that ripped and tore and crushed him – our sins! He took the punishment, and that made us whole. Through his bruises, we get healed” (Isaiah 53:4-5 MSG, bolding mine). “He gives power to the faint and weary, and to him who has no might He increases strength [causing it to multiply and making it to abound]” (Isaiah 40:29 AMPC).
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         By speaking God’s Word over our situations, we align ourselves with His truth. Jesus said He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). He is not A truth, He is THE truth, the embodiment of truth itself. As we speak God’s Word, we reshape our thoughts to be a reflection of His truth. By meditating on His Word, we take our thoughts captive, so we can walk in peace, wholeness, and victory. “Yahweh’s blessing brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it” (Proverbs 10:23 WEB). My prayer is that today, and every day, each one of us walks in the blessing of God.

               Today, I am reposting an article I posted on June 28 2021. I would love to receive your comments.

            There’s an interesting verse in Micah 4:9. It says the following: “Now why do you cry aloud? Is there no king among you? Has your counselor perished, that pains have taken you like a woman in labor?” (Amplified Bible, italics mine). I’m sure if the Body of Christ was asked this question today, we would give the right answer. “Yes, there is a King among us, Jesus Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords.” So why, then is the church not making more of an impact on the world?

           
​         Perhaps it’s because we’ve lacked a kingdom perspective.  In the Scriptures, Joseph, Daniel, and Esther, to name a few, were chosen, taken out and raised up to represent the Kingdom of God before the kingdoms of this world.
   
         As born-again believers, we too have been brought out, trained up and sent back with the good news and demonstration of God’s kingdom. “… you are a chosen people, set aside to be a royal order of priests, a holy nation, God’s own; so that you may proclaim the wondrous acts of the One who called you out of inky darkness into shimmering light.” (1 Peter 2:9 The Voice). “The reason the Son of God was revealed was to undo and destroy the works of the devil.” (1 John 3:8 TPT). We as His church are to be the enforcers of the victory Jesus won over satan and his minions when He rose from the dead.

          “Jesus replied, “While you were ministering, I watched Satan topple until he fell suddenly from heaven like lightning to the ground.  Now you understand that I have imparted to you my authority to trample over his kingdom. You will trample upon every demon before you and overcome every power Satan possesses. Absolutely nothing will harm you as you walk in this authority.” (Luke 10:18-19).

​          “Then Jesus made a public spectacle of all the powers and principalities of darkness, stripping away from them every weapon and all their spiritual authority and power to accuse us. And by the power of the cross, Jesus led them around as prisoners in a procession of triumph. He was not their prisoner; they were his!” (Colossians 2:15 TPT). Sometimes I think we as Christians, myself included, act as if we’re satan’s prisoner rather than him being under our feet.

        “So don’t ever be afraid, dearest friends! Your loving Father joyously gives you his kingdom with all its promises!” (Luke 12:32 TPT). Another translation says that it’s the Father’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom (MEV).

            “Since we are receiving our rights to an unshakable kingdom we should be extremely thankful and offer God the purest worship that delights his heart…” (Hebrews 12:28 TPT). The kingdoms of the earth are extremely volatile. But the kingdom we belong to – the Kingdom of God, is unshakable. It is God’s desire to see His will be done on the earth as it is in Heaven (Matthew 6:10).

​            “For he has rescued us out of the darkness and gloom of Satan’s kingdom and brought us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who bought our freedom with his blood and forgave us all our sins.” (Colossians 1:13 TLB). After reading over these verses, my heart is singing. As believers, we need to remember who we are in Jesus. We are not victims but victors. Let us rise up as citizens of God’s kingdom and do what He has appointed us to do.

            The Jews were exiled to Babylon in multiple waves. In 538 BC, the King of Persia, Cyrus the Great,  conquered Babylon and gave permission for the Jews to return to their homeland.

            The focus of the first return from exile was building Zerubbabel’s Temple. The second addressed spiritual reformation and relearning the laws of God. Under Nehemiah the Prophet in 444 BC, the third return concentrated on rebuilding the broken walls of Jerusalem.

            Like Jerusalem’s fallen walls, we as born-again believers can have fractured walls in our lives – walls relating to our health, finances, relationships, past mistakes. What can we learn from the Book of Nehemiah in dealing with the crumbled walls in our lives?

1. Nehemiah Prayed and Fasted

                When Nehemiah heard from his brother, who had just returned with others from a trip to Judah, that things were not going well for those who had returned there, and that the walls of Jerusalem had been torn down and the gates set on fire, he wrote in Nehemiah 1:4 (NLT), “When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven.”

            Nehemiah repented for his own sins and for the sins of the people. Before God restores us, He wants us to repent of any unconfessed sin. Joel 2:13-14 (NLT) says, “Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead. Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love...” If we truly repent, God has promised to forgive us (1 John 1:9).

    2. Nehemiah and the people gave themselves fully to the work of God
                To get the work done, the people gave time, money, resources, and energy. Men and women together put their lives on the line. Amazingly, in spite of enemies who didn't want to see the Jews succeed, they reconstructed the walls in just 52 days.

            As born-again believers, we must work together as a community in beseeching God to restore our fire and desire for Him. We need to support each other as we allow God to go behind the closed doors of our hearts and clean out the dirt and garbage.

   3. We need help from the good hand of God
            In Nehemiah 2, when Nehemiah asked the king for letters requesting safe travel to Jerusalem and timber for rebuilding the walls, it says, “and the king granted these requests because the gracious hand of God was on me” (Nehemiah 2:8 NLT).

​         When the enemies of the Jews scoffed at the rebuilding of the walls, Nehemiah answered them, “...The God of heaven will help us succeed” (Nehemiah 2:20 NLT). In everything, we must acknowledge the hand of God at work in our lives – changing us, purifying us, and making us into the image of His Son, Jesus. Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5 ESV).

         The Apostle Paul wrote, “Today I am who I am because of God’s grace, and I have made sure that the grace He offered me has not been wasted...” (1 Corinthians 15:10 VOICE).

        “God is good to one and all; everything he does is soaked through with grace” (Psalm 145:9 MSG). God’s good hand is on each one of us. Will we cooperate with Him and allow Him to rebuild our broken walls and make us into the people He wants us to be? My prayer is that for His glory, we will.

         Do you get tired of the repetitiveness of everyday life? I know I do. I think that’s why we enjoy a vacation or a special holiday so much. It gets us out of our familiar routines and allows us to experience new things.
        
        The idea of new things made me think about people in the Bible God called out of their comfort zone and what the consequences would have been if they hadn’t accepted that call.
        
        Abraham is a perfect example. God called him out of Ur of the Chaldeans - to leave his family, friends and everything he had ever known and go to a new place, somewhere he had never been before. “One day, the Eternal One called out to Abram...Abram, get up and go! Leave your country. Leave your relatives and your father’s home, and travel to the land I will show you. Don’t worry-I will guide you there” (Genesis 12:1 VOICE).

      Although Abram got waylaid in Haran, he did eventually make it to Canaan, the land of promise. He decided to trust God and the result was the nation of Israel and the lineage of Jesus.

      What would have happened if Abram (Abraham) didn’t go? God’s purposes will prevail and He would have chosen someone else. But Abraham would have missed out on all the blessings. “’I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you’” (Genesis 12:2-3 NLT). “And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith” (Genesis 15:6 NLT).

       The disciples Peter, his brother Andrew, and brothers James and John are another illustration. They left everything familiar and their source of livelihood to follow Jesus. At the time they answered His call, they only knew they’d become fishers of men, as Jesus told them. They didn’t know that in the power of the Holy Spirit, they would turn the world upside down.

     The Apostle Paul is another case in point. Circumcised when eight days old, a citizen of Israel, member of the tribe of Benjamin, a Pharisee, one who obeyed the law without fault. He left everything he knew about how to be righteous in his own strength and accepted the call to be made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21). What a paradigm shift he underwent. But he had to be willing to let go of the old.

       If he had clung to his old ways, he would have missed seeing the salvation of Jews and Gentiles alike, as well as being used by God to pen at least thirteen letters in the New Testament.

       I would like to conclude with a prayer.

      “Father God, we ask you for strength and boldness when you call us to step out of the comfort of our everyday world. In our own strength, we are weak, so we ask for Your divine power to obey.
     
​      "Fill us to overflowing with Your Holy Spirit. Replace our fear with unwavering confidence in You and in Your promises. Give us the courage to follow You, our Shepherd, no matter the cost, trusting Your plans are for our good. In the precious Name of Jesus, Amen.”

 
            I recently read about a grandmother watering her freshly planted vegetable garden while her young granddaughter watered the flowers. Suddenly, her grandchild said to her, “Don’t water the weeds, Nana.”

            That got me thinking about weeds. Actually, I’ve been thinking about weeds quite a bit lately because my front lawn is full of crab grass and bit by bit, I’ve been pulling it out. Some of those roots go deep and I have to pull them out with two hands. It’s a lot of work.

            In my research, I learned the following about weeds.

1. A weed is a plant that grows unwantedly, and is very often prolific and persistent
2. Weeds compete with crop plants for space, nutrients, and light and can reduce the harvest by as much as 40 to 60 percent
3. Although weeds resemble plants, they do not bear fruit
4. Some weeds can be parasites, feeding either partially or totally, on plants
5. Weeds increase labour costs and interfere with agricultural operations

          In short, weeds are nasty things. The weeds in my lawn also got me thinking about the weeds
which can invade our lives, like selfishness, jealousy, lying, greed, envy, anger, and pride. In this blog post, there are three types of weeds I want to talk about in more depth.
  
        The first is the weed of spiritual laziness. Proverbs 24:30-31 NKJV says, “I went by the field of the lazy man, and by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding; And there it was, all overgrown with thorns; its surface was covered with nettles, its stone wall was broken down.”

         One of Satan’s strategies is to make us lazy about reading the Word of God. He’ll put thoughts in our minds, like, “you read your Bible yesterday, you don’t need to read it today.” That type of thinking wouldn’t work with physical food – and it doesn’t work with our spiritual food either. We need a daily intake of God’s Word. Without it, we starve spiritually.

        Unbelief is another deadly weed. When the seed of the Word of God is sown into our hearts (see Luke 8), the weed of unbelief can grow up and render it null and void. “But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless, and its curse is imminent. In the end it will be burned” (Hebrews 6:8 BSB).

      The above verse shows the condition of the soil is important. Is it producing weeds or good fruit? What is the quality of the soil in our hearts? Are we keeping it moist with prayer and the washing of the water of the Word? “...For he (Jesus) died for us, sacrificing himself to make us holy and pure, cleansing us through the showering of the pure water of the Word of God” (Ephesians 5:25-25 TPT). Is our heart soil holy, pure, and cleansed, ready to receive the Word, or full of weeds ready to choke it out?

    The third weed I want to mention is fear and worry. This weed grows quickly and devours everything in its way. It must be dealt with as soon as it appears and yanked out by its roots. How do we eradicate it? With the words of our mouth. “Your words are so powerful, that they will kill or give life, and the talkative person will reap the consequences” (Proverbs 18:21 TPT).

     When the weeds of fear and worry raise their ugly heads, the solution is not to speak the problem, which will cause them to proliferate, but to speak the Word of God. If the fear is about finances, God has promised to supply all our need (Philippians 4:19), if it is about our health, He heals all our diseases (Psalm 103:3), and when it is about our children, He has promised that all our offspring will be taught of the Lord (Isaiah 54:13).

    Because weeds choke out the harvest, we must be diligent in rooting them out of our lives. If we want a harvest of the fruit of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, the weeds must be gone. 

     So, like the granddaughter told her grandmother, “don’t water the weeds.” Instead, treat them like the enemy they are, and get rid of them.

            Whether the controversial segment of the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France was a mockery of Jesus, the Lord's Supper, and Christianity, or the depiction of a pagan celebration featuring Dionysus, the Greek god of fertility, wine, and revelry, I think it provided insight into the current decadent state of western civilization.

            How should we, as Christians respond? My heart rejoiced when I saw believers in France filling the streets of Paris, not to perpetrate violence, but to sing praises to God. It brought to my mind the concept of “remnant” which we see in the Bible.

            The definition of remnant is what is left over from a larger portion or piece. It can be a portion of food, or material a garment is made from, or even a group of people. Although the world may see a remnant as a worthless scrap, God sees as valuable those He has set aside for holy purposes, people He calls a remnant.

            Isaiah 10 talks about a remnant. There, Isaiah writes about God’s judgment on the Assyrians. Isaiah 10:12 says, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes.” Verses 17 and 18 go on to say, “The Light of Israel will become a fire, their Holy One a flame; in a single day it will burn and consume his thorns and his briars...”

            Further on, Isaiah writes that Israel will turn back to God as a result of His display of strength against the Assyrians. “In that day the remnant of Israel, the survivors of the house of Jacob, will no longer rely on him who struck them down but will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God” (Isaiah 10:20-21).

            Even though God doesn’t use the term to describe them, Noah and his family are an example of a remnant saved out of all those on the earth before the flood (Genesis 6). And when Elijah cried out to God that he was the only one left in Israel who had not bowed his knee to idols, God told him He had reserved a remnant of seven thousand “...whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him” (1 Kings 19:18 NIV).

            Another remnant is the Church, the Body of Christ, those of us who have chosen to follow Jesus and love and serve Him wholeheartedly with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30). Jesus made it clear the remnant would be small when compared with the number of people on earth throughout history, when He said, “Heaven can be entered only through the narrow gate! The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide enough for all the multitudes who choose its easy way. But the Gateway to Life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it” (Matthew 7:13-14 TLB).

            As previously stated, Isaiah writes in Isaiah 10:17 that God would destroy the King of Assyria for his pride and “the Light of Israel will become a fire, their Holy One a flame...” I believe that in His Body today, Jesus wants to become a fire, a flame burning in each one of us, consecrated first of all to our Saviour, and then set ablaze to spread the Good News of the Gospel.
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            At Pentecost in Acts 2, the fire of the Holy Spirit rested on each of the believers, and they went out and changed the world. Today, let’s be like the men (and women) of Issachar “...who understood the temper of the times...” (1 Chronicles 12:32 TLB). As the world around us becomes increasingly dark, as Christ’s “called out ones”, His remnant, let’s shine ever brighter with the fire of the Holy Spirit.